The Presbyterian Life & Witness Board now has its committee assignments

LOUISVILLE — Members of the Presbyterian Life & Witness Board now have their committee assignments, and at Monday’s online meeting, they learned the basics of what each of the five committees will be working on.

• The Coordinating Committee serves as the Board’s coordinating and integrative body. It’s made up of the Board’s co-chairs, the Rev. Scott Lumsden and Ruling Elder Aleathea Harris-Little, and committee chairs or their designee. It sets the agenda for Board meetings and plans each meeting’s logistics, format and location. It will work with the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of PL&W, the Rev. Jihyun Oh, and PL&W’s Senior Leadership Team to “keep the board aligned with its General Assembly mandate,” according to a committee description presented to the Board Monday. Along with the co-chairs, committee members are the Rev. Osvaldo Montalvo-Nazario, Ruling Elder Clare Coonan, the Rev. Leanne Masters and the Rev. Dr. Matt Bussell.
• The Finance and Resource Stewardship Committee oversees the Board’s fiduciary duties and the stewardship of PL&W’s resources. Its duties include guiding the Board’s role in developing, reviewing and recommending PL&W’s two-year budget; coordinating audits and financial policies with Oh and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation President, Ian Hall; and reviewing PLW’s financial health and advising the Board on risk. In addition to Bussell, committee members are Ruling Elder Kris Thompson and the Rev. Dr. Kelly Wadsworth.
• The General Assembly Engagement Committee oversees the Board’s accountability to, and engagement with, the General Assembly. It’s charged with overseeing the biennial mission roadmap and proposing it to the Board, monitoring its execution and progress, overseeing planning for General Assembly meetings and serving as the Board’s main point of contact with General Assembly-related committees and commissions. In addition to Montalvo-Nazario, committee members are Ruling Elder Sydney Gunter and Ruling Elder Robin Roberts.
• The Organizational Leadership Committee oversees leadership accountability, Board development and governance health. It oversees the annual performance of the Stated Clerk and Executive Director and reviews the SC/ED’s compensation, oversees and supports the Moderators of the General Assembly, works with the General Assembly Nominating Committee in discernment regarding nominations to the Board and oversees the annual organizational self-review required by the Organization for Mission. In addition to Coonan, committee members are Ruling Elder Lisa Algood, the Rev. Carson Brown, Ruling Elder Chris Mason and Ruling Elder Miguel Rosa Morales.
• The Connectional Relationships Committee maintains the Board’s relationships across the connectional church. Its responsibilities include strengthening communication and trust with congregations and mid councils; overseeing memoranda of understanding with related agencies and entities; stewarding relationships with General Assembly advocacy committees and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy; providing General Assembly linkage with the Committee on Theological Education, Presbyterian Women, and other connected bodies; supporting engagement with the A Corporation, the Board of Pensions, the Presbyterian Foundation, the Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program and Presbyterian Publishing Corporation; and supporting PL&W’s ecumenical and interfaith relationships. In addition to Masters, committee members are the Rev. Dr. Christina Berry, the Rev. Bill Teng and the Rev. Dr. Kyle Walker.

Lumsden told his fellow board members their work would lean heavily on two documents: the Organization for Mission, which “lays out the why and the what” for Presbyterian Life & Witness, and the Board Manual, which “outlines how we are to do our work as a board.”

Monday’s meeting included a closed, privileged session. Board members rose from that session to announce it had empowered the co-chairs to negotiate a 4-6 month continuation of a contract with KLB Consulting LLC “to address the needs of the Board.”

Kelly Beeland, who operates KLB Consulting, has been under contract with the Unification Commission, which completed its work this summer during the 227^th General Assembly. That contract is set to expire next month.